Kite



Sept. 25, 1962 IN VENTOR,

BY MQM ATTORNEY; I

United States Patent Oil" 3,055,622 Patented Sept. 25, 1962 3,055,622 KITE La., assignor of one- The present invention relates to :a kite and more particularly to a kite having stabilizing balloons at the bottom thereof.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a kite having supporting frame and a windreceiving sheet mounted thereon, the frame comprising a pair of sticks with each stick extending below the bottom edge of the sheet and an inflatable balloon secured to each stick near the bottom end thereof. The wind-receiving sheet is preferably polygonal and more preferably rectangular or square.

According to the preferred construction, each stick extends diagonally to the sheet, the sticks being crossed near the center of the sheet. The sticks are secured to each other at their intersection and the flying string passes through the sheet in the center thereof and is secured at the intersection of the sticks.

According to the preferred construction, the sticks are secured to the sheet by being threaded therethrough in order to maintain the sticks frictionally in position. This constitutes the sole means for securing the sticks to the sheet.

By constructing a kite in this manner and inflating the balloons with air, the balloons act as stabilizers and prevent the kite from going into a spiral nose dive, as often happens with a conventional kite utilizing a cloth tail. This construction also permits the elimination of the conventional kite tail.

These and other aspects of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description in connection with the drawing in which the single figure shows a plan view of the kite.

According to the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the kite comprises a wind-receiving sheet which may be made of any flexible sheet material be it cloth, paper or plastic. The sheet 10 is supported on a supporting frame comprising a pair of sticks 12 and 13 extending diagonally of the sheet and crossing each other at 14 near the center of the sheet. The sticks 12 and 13 are tied to each other at their intersection 14 by means of string 15 or any other desirable manner.

The flying string 17 for the kite passes through a hole 16 from the center of the sheet 10 and is secured at the intersection 14 of the sticks 12 and 13.

The sheet 10 is provided with a plurality of holes 11 near each corner of the sheet, the holes being aligned along the diagonals of the sheet. In order to secure the sticks to the sheet, each stick is threaded through the appropriate holes 11 and this threading frictionally secures the sticks to the sheet.

Each stick 12 and 1-3 is substantially longer than the diagonal of the sheet 10 and extends below the bottom edge 18 of the sheet. Near the bottom end of each stick there is secured an inflatable balloon 19.

In the preferred construction the sheet is square and each stick is approximately twice the length of the sides of the square. By way of example, the sheet 10 is a square whose sides are nine inches long; each stick will be approximately eighteen inches long.

To use the kite, the balloons, which may be conventional toy balloons, are inflated with air. In other words, the balloons are inflated with gas substantially as heavy as the atmospheric air and are not filled with a gas lighter than air. The purpose of the balloons is to act as stabilizers for the kite and it is apparent that if the balloons were filled with a gas lighter than air, the balloons would turn the kite upside down during the flying thereof.

The stabilizing balloons prevent the kite from going into a spiral nose dive as frequently happens with a conventional kite utilizing a cloth tail, such nose dives being generally caused by sudden high gusts of wind in the flying path.

The use of stabilizing balloons as above described permits the elimination of the conventional cloth kite tail with its attendant disadvantages.

It is not neccessary that the ends 20 and 21 of the sticks 12 and 13 respectively extend any particular distance beyond the upper edge 22 of the sheet 10. It is only necessary that the ends 20 and 21 extend sufliciently through the sheet to the sticks to be sufliciently held in the holes 11. In the illustrated embodiment the sticks 12 and 13 end just beyond the edge of the sheet 10.

I claim:

1. A kite comprising a supporting frame and a generally rectangular wind-receiving sheet mounted thereon, said frame comprising a pair of crossed sticks, each stick being generally diagonal to said sheet and extending below the bottom edge of said sheet, and an inflatable balloon directly secured to each stick near the bottom end thereof so that there is substantially no freedom of movement between the balloon and the stick.

2. A kite comprising a generally square wind-receiving sheet, a first stick threaded diagonally through said sheet, a second stick crossing said first stick and threaded diagonally through said sheet, each stick extending below the bottom edge of said sheet, and an inflatable balloon directly secured to each stick near the bottom end thereof so that there is substantially no freedom of movement between the balloon and the stick.

3. A kite as recited in claim 2 wherein the sticks are secured to each other at their intersection.

4. A kite comprising a rectangular wind-receiving sheet, a plurality of holes near each corner of said sheet, said holes being aligned along the diagonals of said sheet, a first stick threaded through the holes along one diagonal of said sheet, a second stick threaded through the holes along the other diagonal of said sheet, said sticks intersecting near the center of said sheet and being secured to each other at said intersection, each stick extending below the bottom edge of said sheet, said sticks constituting the framework of the kite, an inflatable balloon secured directly to each stick near the bottom end thereof so that there is substantially no freedom of movement between the balloon and the stick, and a flying string passing through the center of the sheet and secured to said sticks at the intersection thereo 5. A kite as recited in claim 4 wherein the sticks are approximately twice the length of the side of the sheet.

6. A kite as recited in claim 4, wherein said balloons are inflated with air.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,057,148 Hopkins et a1. Oct. 13, 1936 2,208,786 Astle July 23, 1940 2,733,880 Burrell et al. Feb. 7, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 532,369 Great Britain June 22, 1941 958,172 France Sept. :12, 1949 

